Mainstays Garden Swing Review – The 2-in-1 backyard piece

In my search for garden furniture items for one of my clients, I stumbled upon a piece that seemed really suitable for their future decor: a hammock/swing called Mainstays Garden Swing, that I could already imagine in their garden.

That’s why, in case you’ve heard of this item and you were thinking about purchasing it, you may be interested to find out some quotidian things about it, things that you can’t really find on official sites.

I remember that, when I was trying to find out some thing about this Mainstays Garden Swing, I couldn’t find any customer reviews other than the ones from Amazon (which were pretty short and not very detailed), and this thing made me very unsure whether I should recommend this item or not.

For this reason, as I haven’t found that kind of review I’ve been looking for yet, I want to write one myself, for those of you who are in my situation and haven’t found anything relevant so far.

So, here’s my honest Mainstays Garden Swing Review, starting with some general facts about this item.

The swing itself is very practical and appealing, I would say it’s quite perfect for anyone who wants a regular garden swing and doesn’t want to pay a lot for it. But, just like any item, it has some downsides. Let’s take a look below.

PROs

Is a 2-in-1 furniture piece, that can be used both as a swing and as a hammock

The assembly itself wasn’t very difficult

When it comes to comfort, it gets a pretty high grade from me

It has some cushions that can be removed, in case you like it better. However, the swing is still very comfortablewithout those cushions

The price is great for such a versatile product

Regarding the price/quality ratio, I can say I’m 90% satisfied

I also love the canopy cover, which protects it from rain and sun

It can support 3 peopleeasily, so it’s not one of those really light swings

If you buy it from Amazon, they will ship it for just $4 (if you don’t buy anything else, in which case you’ll probably get a free shipping)

CONs

It could be a bit more solid, if the weather is windy it doesn’t seem that sturdy anymore

The assembly instructions were a bit confusing, as they had a lot of grammar mistakes and you had to pay a lot of attention to get everything right

Doesn’t look as elegant in reality as on the Internet, where it also seems a bit more solid

To sum up the pros and cons of this Mainstays Garden Swing, I believe it is a good investment as long as you’re interested in a non log swing or hammock. You’ll see that I will insist more on it as a swing rather than as a hammock, because it seems more practical and usefult to me. But you can read more about this below.

And now, let’s get to the real review. 🙂

Both swing and hammock, but I prefer swing

A great particularity of this item is that it’s a 2-in-1 product. Just like I said while enumerating the pros, it’s a huge advantage that you pay for one product and you get one that can do 2 jobs actually.

That is in theory. I admit I was really excited seeing that it can be adjusted to a hammock position, but this was just at the beginning, because afterwards I realized that it didn’t feel that right as a hammock as it did as a swing.

When you use it as a swing, it seems quite sturdy and solid (at least in good weather), so there isn’t anything wrong, I mean you don’t have the feeling that it won’t hold you or that you can fall down.

Maybe it’s also about the position in which you sit, because when you swing you usually sit just like on a chair, while when you use it as a hammock, you sit rather as in a bed.

Anyway, when I used it as a hammock, it seemed a bit too…light. Yeah, I know it sounds strange, but I couldn’t find a better word for this. It’s not like it feels uncomfortable or that I’m afraid I would fall down, but it just feels like it’s not that solid as other hammocks I’ve tried.

Now, there are high chances that this is just my opinion. I’ve searched on the Internet “Mainstays hammock not holding” and I haven’t found anything relevant, so I think it’s just me thinking this. But it’s still my opinion, and I prefer it as a swing.

When it comes to this, I can definitely recommend it to you, but regarding the hammock part, though I can guarantee it’s safe and solid enough to hold you, I just prefer something else, that’s all. 😀

A very comfortable piece

Though I wouldn’t expect much from a swing that isn’t made of hardwood, I was pleasantly impressed by this item when it comes to comfort.

I don’t know exactly what those cushions and seating are made of, but they’re definitely really soft and relaxing. And even if you remove the cushions, as they can be taken off, the seating still feels comfortable and soft.

That’s why I say I was surprised, I wasn’t expecting to find so much comfort in a swing of this type, so when it comes to this, I can only praise it.

However, regarding the aspect, I think I preferred how it looked in the pictures on the Internet.

I mean, I know they’re just created in order to give us a brief and beautiful idea of how this piece looks, but from the pictures I had the impression that it was a bit more massive and elegant.

While in reality, it seemed smaller and not as solid as on the Internet. However, I think it also depends where you place it, so if you put it in a decor that is fresh and full of plants and trees, it will probably look better.

That’s what I did in the end, and there was an improvement.

It proved to be quite large in the end

Even if I was a bit disappointed once I finished with the assembling, the swing proved to be just like it claimed, large and solid enough to support 3 people.

When I first look at it assembled, I was afraid I was scammed and that they had either sent me a smaller piece, or the product was simply not as large as it claimed. But these were just unfounded fears, as it proved to be great when it comes to supporting 3 people.

If I look at it now, it no longer seems small to me, so I guess it was just a temporary illusion.

My opinion about the price – quality relationship

I’ve also said this at the advantages column, I’m 90% satisfied when it comes to the price/quality ratio.

In my opinion, $250 isn’t a very small amount of money for a swing, but it’s not a large one either, so I would classify it as “affordable for a regular budget”.

I’ve seen backyard swings that would cost $500, and don’t imagine that they were wooden swings, because the last one are know for being expensive.

No, they were actually regular, fabric swings, made of similar materials like this Mainstays Garden Swing. So I couldn’t really say $250 was high.

Now, regarding the quality, I can say I’m pretty satisfied with it, and I should underline that “pretty”. I couldn’t expect to find a great quality swing for this price, especially because I don’t really believe I could find a great swing unless I buy one made of wood.

Those are my favorite one, simply because I know they can’t be bad and they will always last for a very long time.

But you can’t always have wooden swings, and in those periods regular swings are more than welcome. That’s why, from a regular swing I only expect an average quality.

And I quite got it with this Mainstays Garden Swing, though it could have been a bit more sturdy on bad weather, but mainly I’m pretty satisfied with the quality. That feeling of it not being solid enough on windy days is probably the only reason why I can’t say I’m 90% satisfied, but those days are very rare now, so this isn’t a problem anymore.

And if you don’t live in an area with windy weather, then you shouldn’t even consider this factor.

What I also like is that I managed to get a $4.49 shipping cost, which means that I almost got is shipped for free. And I’ve had a lot of bad experiences with buying online, because I ended up paying more on the shipping than on the products themselves.

So, I’ve added here the link that will give you a discount for shipping, and reduce it to $4.49. You can see it right below.

Conclusion – To buy or not to buy?

Now most of you are probably wondering what I will advise you to do in the end. Try it or look for something else? Well, the answer is simple: it depends on what exactly you’re looking for.

I really recommend you to buy this Mainstays Garden Swing if you’re looking for a regular, non wooden swing, that doesn’t have a huge price but has a good quality.

In this case, this product may be just what you’re looking for. It is also a very comfortable piece, so this could matter a lot for you and your family.

And don’t forget that’s it can also be turned into a hammock, just because I don’t use it in this way doesn’t mean that it’s not a good hammock.

However, if you want to invest in a swing that would last for many years from now, I would advise you to go for a hardwood piece, as those one are made exactly for people who need authentic, long lasting garden furniture. It’s true that you’ll pay a lot more, but the quality will also be a lot better.

So, my answer is both yes or no, depending on what kind of swing you want in your backyard.

This was my Mainstays Garden Swing Review, a piece that I bought and tried for a family that asked for my service, and that was a good investment, which I really don’t regret. So all I can say is that I hope my review was what you needed in order to take a decision about this Mainstays Garden Swing.

I have been pondering back and forth between the basic garden swing like the one in your article except it does not fold down to a hammock.

The other swing is a double glider with or without the table in the middle.

Between the two I have the space for one so size is not the issue, its the function.

The one you mention has the added hammock feature which makes me think a little more towards what you have picked. I’ll need to think more about my options now that you have brought this 2-1 mainstays garden swing to light.

I’ve searched on the official site and they say the weight limit is 750 lbs, which is around 240 kg. So I think it could easily hold 3 average people, because I’ve also seen this myself (it’s true that those 3 people weren’t extremely big, but even so I think there wouldn’t be any problems regarding the weight).

In my opinion, its quality is pretty good for the price, so it depends of what exact swing you’d like to compare it with. Because if you refer to a swing of a similar price, I say it’s much higher-quality than many. But if you compare it with a product that is much more expensive, then that other product will be definitely much long-lasting and resistant.

In expensive furniture, price usually reflects the quality. I haven’t had any expensive set that didn’t last a lot, all the sets I had (from this category) were extremely beautiful and you could tell just by looking at them that they have a great quality.

So I do recommend you the Mainstays Garden Swing, and if you want me to compare it with a certain product, please tell me the name of that product and I will tell you if I’ve used it and if I can compare it.

your review on the garden swing is quite interesting. I just need to know about the weight capacity. You mention that it holds 3 people, yet I did not see the weight capacity. Are you aware of the total weight it can hold? Just want to know before I make a final decision on this swing. I would also like to know how it compares to other swings that someone could find at garden center.
I will come back and visit again.
Thanks
Angela

Thank you for this! I have been wanting to buy a swing for our house for a long time but it always seems like they are either too expensive or too cheaply made. This helped out quite a bit with my search for the right balance 🙂 Do these come in any other colors?

Unfortunately, this exact piece doesn’t have any other colors, just like most swings made by Mainstays. The good thing is that this brand has a lot of very similar swings, which have all different colors, so you could choose the one whose colors you like best.

Thank you for this awesome review.
I too was searching for other reviews for this swing. So glad to finally have come across someone like yourself who has given such a detailed and genuine review.

Now I do not need to look anywhere else. You have answered all my questions that I had before deciding on this swing. I was really worried about the size and sturdiness and you helped me in this regard.

I will be shopping for this on Amazon and getting that 4.49 delivery fee.

We have a similar swing at home but because of my laziness I did not remove the canopy during the winter and the weight of the snow ripped it. I can’t find a replacement so it looks like we have to get a new one.

Does this come in any other colors? The one we had before was green and matched our outdoor furniture so we were hoping to get something similar. Also, do you know if they sell replacement cushions and canopies?

Hey, yes, not removing the canopy in the winter could lead to this, unfortunately.

I’ve only found it in this color, but I’ve searched on Google and found several other Mainstays swings patterns at a similar price, but in have different colors, so you might want to check these here, at least to get an idea.

Yes, from what I know, they do sell replacement cushions, I’m not sure if they also sell replacement canopies, but about the cushions I’m pretty sure. However, I don’t know where they sell them, because I haven’t seen any on Amazon, so I’ll have to search for this info, because I’m really curious now. So I’ll let you know.

I liked your swing reviews. One of these would be nice out by my pool. I like the hammock/swing. It also looks sturdier than the first Mainstays swing. $4.49 for shipping seems so cheap for a big and bulky item! I cannot even believe that Amazon would ship for that price, but I buy many things off of Amazon and a lot of times get shipping that low. This is a great bargain I thing!